The purpose of this study is to describe the strategy of the Village-Owned Enterprise (BUMDES) "Wailala Wainyapu" in improving the economy of the people of Wainyapu Village, District, Southwest Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara Province, as well as the factors that encourage and hinder this role. This research uses a descriptive qualitative approach. Data from observations, interviews, and documentation were analyzed through the condensation stage, presentation and drawing conclusions or verification. The results showed that the strategy of the Village-Owned Enterprise "Wailala Wainyapu" in improving the community's economy was: First, paying attention to the strength of the organizational structure first, but in reality the planning of the organizational structure was not carried out optimally due to the vacancies of the supervisory position that was planned during its formation, plus the formation of the management does not involve the community and / or the Village Consultative Body. Second, empowering the community, BUMDes opens access to savings and loans for business capital for people who have made loans for entrepreneurship. In addition, BUMDes empowers farmers by providing agricultural knowledge and technology assistance to make them more productive, which later agricultural products will be purchased, processed and sold back to the community at affordable prices. Third, BUMDes opens job opportunities for youth with low education as BUMDes workers, while youth with high and middle education serve as administrators or administrators in BUMDes. Fourth, BUMDes seeks to regulate the circulation of money in the village so that it is not spent outside the village of Wainyapu, thus helping the economic stability of the Village. The driving factor for efforts to increase the village economy includes the capacity and quality of the management, the administrators have a very supportive educational background and technical experience. In addition, high community participation really helps the smooth implementation of various BUMDes activities. The actors inhibiting efforts to improve the economy include the lack of available budget as well as the political situation in the village which is getting hotter ahead of the Village Head election. So it is suggested that the Village Government increase the budget, while the BUMDes management should not be affected by the heating up village political situation.

Keywords: BUMDes; Community; Economy; Role